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Pentagon awards more than $2 billion in contracts for national security rocket launches

The US Air Force has awarded three aerospace companies with a combined $2 billion in contracts to develop rockets capable of sending national security satellites into orbit for the US government: the United Launch Alliance, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezosís Blue Origin. However, SpaceX ó a current launch provider for the Defense Department ó was not on the list.
The awards are part of the DODís coveted Launch Service Agreement, or LSA. The goal of the program is to aid the development of commercial rockets and ensure that the US government has constant access to space for its national security payloads. The Defense Department says it will eventually select two of the awardees to be official launch providers...
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The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday said that it had awarded a total of $2.3 billion in contracts to develop rocket launch systems for national security missions.
The awards go to Amazon.com billionaire ...